The Ada municipal building renovation project is falling behind completion schedule due to delays in installing the new elevator.

Ada council members received that news from Police Chief James Harnishfeger during his report at the Sept. 3 council meeting. Harnishfeger told council that the elevator is the only holdup in the project.

The “substantial” completion date is Sept. 27, but the delay from the elevator is expected to take the project into November, according to minutes from the meeting.

Councilman Don Fleming asked for a clarification on the completion date. Jamie Hall, village administrator, said that it is 180 days from the contract signing.

Mayor David Retterer asked if there is a monetary penalty in the contract should the completion date be later than the end of September. The village administrator said he would look into that, but did not have an answer at the meeting.

Hall explained that a major issue in the delay is that the elevator company has a new list of items for the prime contractor each time the contractor has attempted to complete the project.

The project bids were opened in March and the estimated cost for the project was $687,946.

The municipal building involves a major overhaul of the building including village offices and the police department. The elevator is also part of the project, as the building was originally constructed without an elevator,